Hyundai in crash-test controversy

Attempts by Hyundai to gain independent endorsement for the safety and dynamic attributes of its new generation Elantra sedan fell somewhat flat at this week's media launch.

The car's achievement of a maximum five star ANCAP safety rating was over-shadowed by a debate over the supply of the cars for crash-testing before they went on sale.

And former rally ace Ed Ordynski's testing of the Elantra's handling and braking against the Mazda3 and Holden Cruze was criticised because of the specification of the cars used.

Sydney-base ANCAP usually purchases cars for testing through dealerships anonymously. However, in this case it selected chassis numbers at random from a boatload of Elantras headed for Australia.

The cars were then supplied by Hyundai to ANCAP. Hyundai has confirmed it assisted with the funding of the test because of an ANCAP budget shortfall.

"Can I state publicly and categorically that Hyundai complies with the ANCAP process and we make no special preparations of the vehicles at all," said Hyundai senior PR manager Ben Hershman.

ANCAP spokesman Allan Yates said ANCAP could not be completely certain Hyundai hadn't pre-prepped the cars but a through technical inspection by technical ANCAP and Crashlab staff had unearthed no issues.

"The technical people from ANCAP and Crashlab who are involved in the preparation of the vehicle over several hours, not minutes, do spend a lot of time checking those areas," he said.

The Elantra did achieve a five star rating despite a front-side airbag failing to deploy properly in the side impact test. After investigation Hyundai ruled this a "one off' issue. The airbag deployed properly in a subsequent pole test.

Other manufacturers, most notably Subaru, have also supplied cars to ANCAP for crash testing before going on-sale.

Ordynski's testing at the Marulan circuit south of Sydney pitched the mid-spec $25,590 Elantra Elite and $28,360 Mazda3 Maxx Sport against the entry-level $22,990 Holden Cruze CD. The test was criticised because it was characterised as a competition between volume sellers when the entry-level Active is expected to be the most popular Elantra.

It was also argued that a Cruze with the recently added turbocharged 1.4-litre engine, which comes with a watts link rear-end, was the more appropriate model to use in the comparison.

While the Elantra and 3 were level-pegging in most tests, the Cruze lagged behind.

"We weren't trying to denigrate the performance of the other cars, we were simply trying to show the new Elantra was dynamically capable," said Hershman. "If journalists are uncomfortable with the Holden that was provided or how we did it then please ignore that result."